Tens of thousands of scientists, research students and science enthusiasts will hit the streets on Wednesday in 25 cities urging the authorities to desist from propagating obscurantist and unscientific ideas and also for an increase in funding for science.

The India March for Science, being organised on the basis of a call given out through social media by a relatively unknown Breakthrough Science Society, draws inspiration from a similar global march for science in April which was held in 600 cities across the world. While we can be inspired by the great achievements in science and technology in ancient India, we see that non-scientific ideas lacking in evidence are being propagated as science by persons in high positions,” a note put out in connection with the march said.

“Such weird ideas are propagated not just by politicians, but also by departments which are supposed to be guided by science,” said a scientist in Pune, who is among the organisers of the march in the city, where more than 1,000 scientists, students and members of organisations fighting against superstition are expected to participate. The case in point is the directive on “Sattvik diet” put out by Ayush Ministry for pregnant women, he said.

“We feel that the situation demands the members of the scientific community to stand in defence of science and scientific attitude in an open and visible manner, the note said.

Apart from calling for hiking budget available for scientific research to 3 per cent of GDP and another 10 per cent for education, the march would demand that education system should only impart ideas that are supported by scientific evidence. The march is expected to be held in cities from Bengaluru to Kolkata, from New Delhi to Mumbai to Wardha.

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